Why Matsumoto Rangiku cut her hair
by elenaela
Summary: Why does Rangiku Matsumoto have short hair after the time skip? And no, it's not a change of style! The adventures that lead one of the most troublesome shinigami in Soul Society to having a new haircut!


**Why Matsumoto Rangiku cut her hair.**

**Summary:** Why does Rangiku Matsumoto have short hair after the time skip? And no, it's not a change of style! The adventures that lead one of the most troublesome shinigami in Soul Society to having a new haircut!

**A/N:** Matsumoto with short hair? T_T what was Tite Kubo thinking!? There must be some kind of explanation for this…

Story is set about 1 year after Ichigo loses his powers!

* * *

The 10th Division's Vice Captain woke up groaning. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and stretched her back.

"About time you woke up, Matsumoto. I was wondering if you ever would."

Rangiku yelped in surprise at the voice, coming from behind the couch. She'd fallen asleep in the office again. Not that she remembered ever getting there. Her memories were fuzzy after her third bottle of sake, and they disappeared completely when she was at her fifth. Or maybe it was her sixth?

"Taichou, there's no need to scare me! And you really should be nice enough to say 'Good morning' before insulting me!", she replied.

"Matsumoto, I'll say good morning to you only after-"

"Yes, yes I know," she interrupted, "do you have something to eat Taichou? I'm starving!"

"You crash on the couch in the office, sleep till noon, and then you expect me to bring you breakfast?!", he asked, his eye now twitching in irritation.

"Umpf, Taichou, and I thought you were a gentleman! Fine, I'll go find myself breakfast!", she exclaimed, standing up and running out of the room.

"MATSUMOTO! Come back here right now!", he yelled after her in vain.

Rangiku giggled to herself, 'No paperwork today! Ah ah Taichou might be a genius, but sometimes he's as easy ad a pie! So cute!'

She ran out of the 10th Division barracks and headed towards her favourite café. Nothing better than a hot tea and a croissant when you had a hangover. While walking, she looked at the shop windows on the way, wondering if she should ask Nanao to go shopping with her in Seireitei or if it was better to organize a shopping trip to the human world with the other SWA members.

The window of a liquor shop caught her attention, and as she moved closer, she noticed a big advertisement: "District 64 North Rukongai Sake – 50 years of quality in one bottle".

Rangiku stared. The bottle displayed was dark green with golden writing, and looked quite expensive. But that wasn't why she stared. She had already seen that bottle. The first time she had gotten drunk she had gulped down an entire bottle of that exact same sake. And the next day had been one of the luckiest in her life. Rangiku flung herself inside the shop without a second thought.

"Excuse me sir," she smiled sweetly at the shopkeeper, "how much does that bottle cost?"

The shopkeeper perked up immediately and smiled hugely at her. 'Hell. It probably costs a lot,' Rangiku frowned, as the man carefully extracted the bottle from the shop window and set it delicately on the counter.

"Well, you see Miss, this is a very rare sake. It comes from the 64th District in North Rukongai, and it can only be produced on years which have a certain perfect balance of atmospheric conditions and temperature. Which occurs roughly about once every fifty years," he explained. "Also, the location isn't what you would consider a very safe place, and obtaining the ingredients is quite a challenge."

"I know. I lived in that district before becoming a shinigami."

The shopkeeper's eyes widened, "Oh! So then you probably know about the famous persimmons from that district! They are the best in the whole of Soul Society!", he babbled excitedly.

"Oh yes, of course! Dried persimmons from the 64th are my favourite food!", Rangiku answered, her eyes shining brightly with pleasure. "They saved my life from starvation more than once too!", she added, remembering her first meeting with Gin.

"Well then Miss, you must know that this sake is a persimmon sake! And it's also the only one made from persimmons from the 64th District in North Rukongai!", the shopkeeper said proudly.

Now happy beyond belief, Rangiku yelled "I'm buying it!" loud enough for half of Seireitei to hear.

The shopkeeper looked at her sheepishly and said, "Well, er, well… the price is 150'000 Kan."

"WHAT?"

Rangiku was shocked: that was almost two months of her pay! Where in the world was she going to find all that money? 'Ah, well. Time for desperate measures,' she mused, unbuttoning the front of her kimono further.

The shopkeeper yelped and covered his eyes, "No, no! I have a wife, Miss! Please refrain from undressing in public!"

"Fine." She snorted. Men like him were the ones who ruined her life. "But, in exchange, I want a discount," she pouted.

"Erm, well Miss, you see, even though this sake costs a lot, it is quite easy to sell. I was hoping Captain Kyoraku, or maybe the noble Kuchiki…"

"No way!," Rangiku banged her fist on the counter, "this sake is MINE! There is no way in hell I'm going to let a drunkard and a spoiled prat drink what is mine by right!", she screamed, before letting out a stream of curses that made the poor man pale.

When she had finally calmed down, she stood in the middle of the store panting, thinking of what to do. A plan started forming in her head, but it required time, and she didn't want to take any chances.

Putting her best smile back in place, she leaned towards the shopkeeper: "Please excuse my outburst sir, but this sake is really important for me, and I lost control a bit," she giggled and batted her eyelashes, "now, of course you would never make me pay it less than it is worth! How silly of me to suggest something like that! But you see, maybe we could find a compromise which pleases both of us! If you could just wait a week, I'll be back with the money, which I momentarily do not possess. This way, I get to drink the sake that was always meant for me, and you get to sell such a precious merchandise to someone who will appreciate it!", Rangiku concluded, happy with her flawless reasoning.

The shopkeeper muttered and looked around, searching for a possible escape route, before murmuring, "Well, Miss, since you are such an expert, I think I might be able to keep this sake reserved for you for two days…"

"TWO DAYS! Now listen man, how can I get such a huge sum in such a short amount of time? They don't pay me enough, you know!"

"Miss, I'm very sorry, but I can hardly-"

"Fine, FINE! I'll be back in two days' time with the money! And I better find the sake ready for me, or else…" she threatened. The shopkeeper glanced quickly at her Vice Captain badge and nodded fervently. Rangiku grunted and stomped out of the shop, slamming the door so hard it cracked.

Once outside, she checked her purse, and groaned. She had the exact sum of 34'246 Kan, and her monthly pay wasn't due till two weeks later. Not that that would have been enough, seeing as Vice Captains were paid the meagre sum of 80'000 Kan a month. Muttering curses against a certain Captain Commander's avarice, Rangiku Matsumoto set out to gather two month's worth of pay in two days.

* * *

Rangiku ran into the Sixth Division, and flung herself in the Captain and Vice Captain's office.

"Where's Renji?", she snarled to a startled looking Byakuya Kuchiki (well, as startled as Kuchiki gets…which admittedly isn't much).

"Good morning, Matsumoto Fukutaichou," he replied coolly, "Abarai Fukutaichou is probably on the training grounds, training the new division members. I trust that you would disturb him only with strictly work-related issues?"

Matsumoto just glared at him, and stalked out of the room. 'Work-related issues! Yeah right! My well-being is waaay more important than killing a Hollow or two, or whatever it is that that conceited brat considers work!' she brooded, heading towards the training grounds.

Thankfully, Renji was a more responsible person than her, and he was actually doing his work. If someone had something urgent to tell HER, they'd have to ask half of Seireitei on her whereabouts before hoping to find her. Who knows why, the person everyone asked first was her Captain… funny, seeing as he was the person least likely to know.

"Renji! I need to talk to you!"

Renji looked up in surprise, while ducking a blow from one of his underlings, whom had hoped to catch him off guard.

"Hiya Matsumoto! Give me a minute!", he yelled back, before making quick work of the few of his opponents who were still standing.

"So, what do you need?", he asked a few minutes later, when they were relaxing on the porch, drinking some tea one of Renji's subordinates had made.

"I need my money back. Now."

"What? But Rangiku-san, can't you wait two weeks? I'll get my pay then, and-"

"No, Renji, I need it now! And since we're here, why don't you loan me some extra money too? I'll give it back to you in two weeks," Rangiku promised hopefully.

"But Rangiku, I don't even have 60'000 Kan now! How can I loan you even more money when I don't even have the money I owe you?"

"You…you don't have my money?" murmured Rangiku, her eyes becoming moist. What was she going to do? Where was she going to find the money now?

"Ran-Rangiku? Are-are you crying?" Renji panicked. He had never seen Matsumoto in such a state, no matter what happened. What was so important to her that not having it would make her cry? Actually, she was usually such a carefree person that Renji hadn't even know that she COULD cry!

"No, of course I'm not crying," Rangiku sniffled, wiping her eyes.

"Well, um, maybe I can give you a part of what I owe you? I have about 20'000 Kan I can spare here…"

"Oh Renji! Thank you!" she yelled, flinging herself at him, and almost suffocating him with her bosom. While he was distracted, she swiftly grabbed the wallet in his hands and, jumping up, made her escape.

Renji stared after her running form and frowned, feeling that he had been somehow tricked. How was he supposed to eat in the next two weeks? She had just stolen all of his money after all. He sighed, and cursed himself for the millionth time for betting with Matsumoto.

Rangiku grinned to herself. 'Well, it would have been better if he had all of my money, but this'll do for now', she thought, rummaging in his wallet, and finding 41'300 Kan, 'much more that what I had! Now that makes…um…75'546 Kan total! Halfway mark cleared!' she smiled happily, skipping towards the 9th Division barracks.

Once there, she found who she was looking for immediately: Hisagi wasn't the type to skip work and, sure enough, he was surrounded by piles of paperwork and was yelling instructions to his subordinates.

"Hisagi-chan!" she called, waving from the other side of the room.

Hisagi looked up and groaned. Exactly what he needed. Rangiku Matsumoto barging in in the middle of work.

"Now, don't you dare make such a face at me, Shuuhei!" she pouted, "I promise this won't take long."

"If it's about the money, the answer is NO, Rangiku."

"But Hisagi-chaaaan! This time is different, I swear!"

"I've had this job for forty years Rangiku, and you say the same thing ever single year!" Hisagi remarked.

Making and selling calendars of the most famous Shinigami in the Gotei 13 was one of the 9th Division's jobs, and it was by far the most difficult one. Some of the shinigami adamantly refused to take the photo shoots, and had to be coaxed every year with outlandish promises (last year Zaraki Kenpachi had agreed to the photo sessions only after the Hisagi promised to give his division half of the 9th's Hollow-killing share for a period of three years), while others, like Yumichika Ayasegawa, were never happy with how the photos came, making the photo shoots last weeks and driving everyone up the wall.

Rangiku instead was really easy to work with, but her one big flaw was the money. By contract, the shinigami were given 25'000 Kan at the end of the photo sessions, and 25'000 more after the calendars were sold months later. Nonetheless, a few weeks after the photo shoots, Rangiku always came back asking for the money, insisting that she was in a life-and-death situation, which of course required exactly 25'000 Kan to solve. And, every year, after long and frustrating arguments, Hisagi gave in and she received the money months before she was meant to.

'This year, I won't allow it! There's no way I'm going to give in to this woman in front of my new Taichou,' Hisagi decided, thinking of Captain Kensei, who had been back in Soul Society only for a couple of months, 'I don't want him to think that I'm a spineless idiot who can't even resist the charms of such a gorgeous, huge breasted and fun woman… that is batting her long, sexy eyelashes at me in such a beautiful way… no, wait! Get a hold of yourself Shuuhei! Don't let her sidetrack you!'

"Please Hisagi-san? It's a life-and-death situation…if I don't have enough money by the day after tomorrow, something awful will happen to me…" she whispered, leaning in to reveal even more of her huge bosom.

"N-no R-rangiku… I'm sorry, but not this year…" Hisagi managed to croak, blushing hard.

"Pleeeeease?"

"No, I'm sorry…"

Seeing as the 'nice girl' approach was having no effect other than making Shuuhei blush, Rangiku changed tactic:

"I'm sorry, I'M SORRY! That's all you ever say Shuuhei! Well, you know what? You don't look sorry at all to me! If you really were, you'd run around and find my money by tomorrow! That's what a friend would do! But then, you probably aren't my friend, are you? It was all a lie! I thought you cared for me, and now I find out that you've been faking all this time to… to…to take advantage of me!" she yelled wildly, banging her fists on his desk.

"R-Rangiku w-what are you…?" he stuttered.

"What's all this ruckus about? Shut up, will you? I thought I made it clear I wanted everyone to stop making so much noise," an annoyed voice snapped from a couch in the corner of the room.

"Now listen, Mister! Nobody tells ME to shut up! You better watch your mouth, or I'll rinse it out for you!" the now seething Rangiku whirled around, meaning to punch her interlocutor in the face, but stopping in amazement at Hisagi's instant reaction:

"Matsumoto Rangiku! Don't you DARE speak to my Captain in such a disrespectful way!"

Rangiku's eyes widened: 'Captain? Oh no. I forgot that the 9th had a new Taichou. Oh dear. I'm dead. And I didn't even get the chance to drink my lucky sake again,' she thought glumly, wondering if Toshiro would take the pain of organizing her funeral.

Kensei rose up from the couch muttering something about lost sleep, and approached Matsumoto, staring at her.

"And you are?"

"M-matsumoto Rangiku, V-vice Captain of the 10th Division," Rangiku stammered, waiting for the deathblow. He looked even scarier up close, and she swore to herself that she had never met a shinigami that looked such a rogue, not even Zaraki Kenpachi.

But Kensei just glared at her, and after a moment he remarked, "You sound as annoying as Mashiro. I heard that the Captain of the 10th is a genius, but I thought it was an exaggeration. Now I see why everyone's so fond of him. Putting up with women like you requires nothing short of a genius."

"Erm…thanks?"

"Why were you yelling at my Fukutaichou?"

"W-well, the Ninth Division owes me some money and I thought…", Rangiku stammered sheepishly.

"Fine. Come get it the day after tomorrow, and then I never want to see your face in here again," Kensei closed the dispute with a commanding tone, and went back to lie down on the couch.

Rangiku looked around in confusion, and noticed that all the members of the Ninth were now talking to each other in fearful whispers, instead of their usual loud voices. She turned back to Shuuhei in amazement and whispered: "Er, well… I didn't know you had such a… forceful… Captain…"

Hisagi smiled happily, "Yes, he's amazing isn't he?", his eyes sparkling.

"Yes, well… I'll be back the day after tomorrow. Bye!", she hurried out of the building, eager to get as much space as possible between that monster and herself.

'Really, Ran-chan! You have no luck with men today!', she decided, thinking angrily yet again at the shopkeeper who wouldn't even give her a little discount. It was all his fault that she had almost gotten killed back there.

* * *

Matsumoto pondered briefly what to do. She now had 100'546 Kan, and she was starting to run out of options. She thought about visiting Kira, before remembering that he too had a new Captain. After a bit of internal debate, she decided that two such scary people couldn't possibly exist, and that it was worth the risk. She ran to the 3rd Division, where she was presented to the new Captain Rose. He was enthusiastic of meeting one of Kira's friends, and when she let drop that she hadn't eaten anything since the night before, though it was already four in the afternoon, he invited her to what he called a "late lunch-early dinner snack". In the meantime Rangiku spun her sad tale, telling him that she had been unrighteously tricked and was now desperate for money. Kira glared at her sceptically, but didn't have the courage to interfere. Rose was appalled at the wickedness of Rangiku's imaginary creditors, but unfortunately he had spent all of his money on a new guitar two days before, and was now living at Kira's expenses. So, in the end, Rangiku walked out of the 3rd Division with only 5'000 Kan more, which Kira had grudgingly given her only after Rose had insisted that friends always helped each other, and that he had a heart of ice for not seeing her obvious sorrow.

Sighing heavily, Matsumoto made her way towards the 8th Division barracks, hoping to have more luck with Nanao. She wasn't really looking forward to being indebted to her, seeing as she was so strict with money and would probably detract it directly from her next payroll, but this was an emergency.

However, when she arrived at the 8th Nanao wasn't there, and a secretary informed her that she was attending a Shinigami Women's Association meeting (which Rangiku had totally forgotten about), and would only be back in a few hours. Matsumoto turned to leave, but collided with Shunsui. He grinned down at her: "Rangiku-chan! What a pleasure to see you! Are you leaving already? Why don't you have a drink with me?", he steered her toward his room, and opened a bottle of sake.

The 10th Division Vice Captain started protesting, but soon changed idea, thinking that it would be a nice way to spend the time while she was waiting for Nanao. Of course, her decision had nothing to do with the fruity smell of the sake drifting around the room. Nothing at all.

"Now, Ran-chan, why do you look so glum?", Shunsui noticed when they were drinking their fourth cup, and the usually exuberant Matsumoto had yet to say a word.

Not wanting to tell Kyoraku Shunsui of all people about her lucky sake, Rangiku said the first thing that came to mind:

"The Captain Commander pays us way too little. I never have enough money to buy all the clothes, beauty products, and especially sake I need. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm a good gambler, I'd be indebted to half of Seireitei every month."

Kyoraku stared at her glumly and opened another bottle of sake, "Don't you tell me… Nanao says that I drink 150'000 Kan worth of alcohol a month. My 120'000 Kan Captain pay disappears into her hands every single month. I haven't seen a single Kan in more than 50 years," he said, tears flowing down his cheeks.

Rangiku managed to scoot over without falling, and patted him on the shoulder comfortingly, "Shh, shh. At least she replenishes your sake supply regularly," she cooed, opening what was now probably the fourth bottle, "MY Taichou doesn't even care! When I buy something new, he never notices, and if I make him notice, he just stares at me disapprovingly and shakes his head!"

"Yes… nobody cares about us anymore… we are worth less than nothing… so poor, and rejected by our closest friends…", Kyoraku was now sobbing openly, somehow managing to take big swigs of sake at the same time, "What are we going to do? There is nothing left for us anymore…"

"NO! I refuse to give up!", a very flushed Matsumoto yelled, banging her fist on the table for the third time that day, "There must be SOMETHING that we can do! There must be some way to get loads of money in a short time!"

"We wouldn't need lots of money if we had a decent pay to begin with…", Shunsui remarked sadly, staring dejectedly at the empty bottom of yet another bottle.

"Kyaaa!", Rangiku yelped in glee, hugging Kyoraku tightly, "you are a GENIUS! There'd be no need worry so much about money, if only we had a decent pay! And so…"

"So…?"

"So, we ask for a pay rise!", Matsumoto concluded happily.

Kyoraku lifted his head and stared at her, his eyes sparkling: "Of course! That is just so obvious! Let's go ask Yama-san right now!", he resolved, trying to stand up and falling back on his backside.

"No, no, you silly man! That isn't professional at all!", Matsumoto pouted at his naivety, "We have to write a formal letter of request, stating clearly all the reasons why we want a pay rise!"

"Oh! You are so clever Ran-chan! I can't believe I never noticed before! Well, then, let's make a toast to the smartest woman in all of Seireitei!", he cried, opening another two bottles, and handing her one. Rangiku giggled childishly and took a big swig out of her new bottle, while Shunsui yelled at one of his subordinates to bring him pen and paper. When the poor girl came back with the requested items, Rangiku and Shunsui immediately set to work:

"Dear Captain Commander Shigekuni Yama-san, we would like to bring a matter of outmost importance to your attention. That is, the Captain and Vice Captain payrolls. We feel that it is quite unjust that we are paid so little, when we have to work so much! And life in the Seireitei cost soooo much, it's absolutely unbelievable!"

"It's because of the inflation!", Kyoraku nodded wisely, "Add that in!"

"The inflation! Exactly! And what about the astronomical prices of beauty care products?"

"That too, that too!", Shunsui eagerly agreed, "And write down that he has to do something about the ever increasing prices of sake and office materials too!"

"Office materials?"

"Nanao is always complaining that they cost so much. She cut my alcohol supplies last month because she has to buy ink and paper."

Rangiku shuddered, "Thank God my Taichou doesn't let me use the Division's fund to buy alcohol… no, wait! Why not? I'll ask him to make an extra alcohol fund for every Division!"

"Remember to clearly state the reasons! It's a formal letter Ran-chan, don't forget!"

"Ah, yes, of course, Shun-kun. So he'd want to do that because… because… because if we drink inside our own Divisions we destroy less bars! And it's a very good way to socialize with other divisions because you can throw so many parties!"

"Good idea! We have an obvious need for so many parties! We don't want people to get depressed over all that Aizen-was-a-traitor thingy now, do we?"

"Of course not! Now do you have any other ideas?"

It took the two inebriated shinigami almost another hour to finish the letter, and by the time they had both signed the letter with shaky hands, it was dark outside, and the 8th Division barracks were empty. Rangiku and Shunsui were very displeased, because they had wanted someone to take the letter to the Captain Commander, but they didn't lose hope, and decided to deliver it themselves. The two of them staggered laughing out of the building, and started making their way approximately towards the 1st Division.

* * *

Hanataro Yamada was wearily walking home. It had been a very tiring day at work, and he couldn't wait to get some well-earned sleep. The streets were silent and empty, so he was a bit surprised to see Kyoraku Taichou and Matsumoto Fukutaichou leaning against a building. He turned deep purple when the Vice Captain noticed him and called him 'pretty-chan', asking him to get closer. He immediately noticed that Captain Kyoraku wasn't feeling well, but Matsumoto reassured him that he would be fine, if only he was so nice to carry him home? Oh, and since he was there, couldn't he bring a very, very important top-priority letter to the Captain Commander? What did he mean, it was one in the morning? So what? The Captain Commander was a celestial being that never slept! Fine, fine! As long as he delivered the letter first thing in the morning, a few hours of delay wouldn't be so disastrous…maybe.

Hanataro sighed heavily and watched Rangiku wobbling back towards her division. He shifted Captain Kyoraku's weight in a more comfortable position and started towing him towards the 8th Division, sadly thinking that he wasn't going to get much sleep tonight.


End file.
